LIBERAL, Kan. – Held to a season-low shooting performance, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would see a seven-point halftime deficit be something that they could never overcome in the second half to fall by a score of 69-60 at Seward County Community College inside the Greenhouse in Liberal, Kansas on Wednesday, February 1st.
 
Unable to secure their first win in Liberal since 2016, Cloud County falls to 12-10 overall and 8-8 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while Seward County picks up their 12th win of the year to improve to 12-11 and 8-9 in the KJCCC.
 
Hitting two early threes to jump out to a 6-0 lead, Cloud County would maintain their lead throughout the opening seven minutes of the contest despite seeing just 13 total points scored between the two teams. With both squads willing to play at a slower pace and focus on the defensive end, things would become tied at 10-10 with 12:03 left in the first half before seeing the Saints score the next three points as part of a 7-1 run to go up 17-11 with just over nine minutes left before halftime.
 
The lead for Seward County would continue to grow, with SCCC scoring six of the next seven to finish off a 13-2 run and go up double-digits at 23-12 with Cloud County facing their largest deficit of the first half. After trading buckets with the saints over the next two minutes of game action, Cloud County would get a three-point play from Kyle McElroy to get back within eight before a Corey Sawyer Jr. triple would bring CCCC within five with just under a minute before halftime as momentum would begin to shift in favor of the T-Birds. Momentum would change one final time in the first half however as Seward County would get a made shot in the paint in the final 30 seconds of the first period to push their lead back to three possessions to hold a 27-20 lead at the end of the first 20 minutes of play.
 
Neither team would be able to find the scoring column in the opening minute of the second half both teams would connect on shots near the hoop to get on the board. Seward County would connect on back-to-back Wilson Dubinsky triples to go back up double-digits as the lead for SCCC would grow to 17 at 41-24 following a 12-2 Saint run. The deficit for Cloud County would reach a game-high 18 at 46-28 with 14:20 remaining before the T-Birds would respond with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes of play to get within seven with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Following the run by CCCC, Seward County would respond by scoring nine of the next 11 points to push their lead back to 14 and on the verge of putting the game out of reach heading into the final five minutes of action.
 
Continuing to get looks close to the hoop, Cloud County would get layups from Sawyer Jr. and Ja'Ron Briggs Jr. to get back within single digits before seeing the Saints start to answer each T-Bird basket. With Seward County having success on the offensive end of the floor, CCCC would start to see time become the biggest factor as the T-Birds would get within seven with 1:51 remaining but no closer as free throw shooting from SCCC would seal the game and keep Cloud County from making a run at a full comeback.
 
Finishing with a season-low 25.3 percent (20-of-79) shooting percentage, Cloud County would connect on just five-of-24 (20.8 percent) of their three-point attempts and 60.0 percent (15-of-25) free throw attempts. Rebounding would also be an issue for the T-Birds on the night with Seward County holding a 66-42 advantage on the glass while outscoring CCCC 16-10 in second-chance points to offset an 18-10 T-Bird advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Sawyer would finish with 13 points and seven rebounds to lead Cloud County while Briggs Jr. would have 11 points off the bench in 28 minutes of action to finish as the only two T-Birds to hit double-figures. The 11 points from Briggs Jr. would account for the majority of Cloud County's 18 bench points with the starting five scoring 42 of CCCC's 60 on the night. Dubinsky would lead Seward County with a game-high 23 points thanks in part to a six-of-seven performance from beyond the arc while Mario Whitley would record a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Saints.
 
What's Next?
Cloud County will look to avenge a December loss to Pratt when they host the Beavers at 4 PM on Saturday, February 4th. PCC took a 67-64 win over the T-Birds on December 3rd in a game that saw Cloud County lead by 13 in the first half before being outscored 12-3 in the final 6:35 of the contest. Pratt is currently 12-9 overall and was off on Wednesday night having last played on January 28th when they lost by a score of 80-69 to Butler.